Buying online term plans is becoming very common these days; most of the financial planners including me are suggesting their clients to buy online term plans. Why?? Because if you are getting identical product at lower cost it definitely makes some sense. Even cost benefit is not small & it ranges between 2-5% every year – sorry I missed out ZERO. Difference between online term insurance plan & offline term insurance plan is ranging between 20-50% depending on choice of your policy. But let me clarify that premium should not only be the criteria to select a term plan. Read:How to choose best term plan?

Couple of day’s back I wrote review of HDFC Click 2 Protect online term insurance plan & I think I used all good words available in the dictionary to praise this product. (No, I am not an agent of HDFC Life Insurance or for that matter I don’t hold insurance agency of any other insurance company – general or life.)

You can read what people have shared & also add your experience in the comment section.

Buying online term insurance plan – bitter experience

Insurance comes under service industry so one of the selection criteria must be the quality of service people are getting. But I am shocked by looking at the comments that people are adding regarding services of HDFC life insurance. Harhsit Said…

“I have tried purchasing one of this online term plan through HDFC and let me tell you, the Customer service is just pathetic. I have completed the application and even completed the medical test, everything went well… I also sent my documents across 3 times but they again and again keep on asking me to send some document again. Suddenly 1 day I got the premium paid was reversed into my account without any notification given and my application was rejected. Upon calling the Customer service, even they were not sure what happened & why my application was rejected. I Than tried Kotak E-Preferred for buying, here the problem was with filling up the application on their website, one the First screen itself where i have to enter my personal details, when i click save it is not accepting and returning some error. Contacted the Customer service and still they are unable to find out what the problem is? Still kotak CS is better than HDFC Life.

Just Wondering if applying for this policies can be so stressful for a tech Savvy person like me, what will happen during claim settlements for our Family Members.”

Sunil rubbed salt in the wound by replying

“Thanks for sharing your experience Mr. Harshit. It would surely be helping others to finalize their insurance company. I must congratulate you on receiving your money back else I am still struggling to get it back.. I would rate them as – WORST AMONG THE WORSTS.”

This comment forced me to add this post.

Rajeev added similar comment

“I had applied for this product on 21 Dec-2011 & paid the premium online through net banking. Since then I received no response from HDFC life through any of the channels (mail, phone, email or otherwise). I tried to contact them on phone, email, web complaint form, but they gave me replies like we will contact you in 24 hrs, 48 hrs which never happened. In the end of Jan-12, I received a verification call from them which was responded & then I received an email for submission of documents which were also submitted and acknowledged by them in first week of Feb-12. Again after that no response from them , so I sent them emails & also contacted on phone (helpline), I was told every time that they will call me back with status within 24/48 hrs , which never happened. So, after getting no response from HDFC Life, even at proposal stage, comparing when other companies are issuing policies in minutes & also others are responding properly in time, I decided that taking policy from HDFC will be unwise decision. If these people are so unresponsive even at proposal stage, where everyone normally responds well, what will happen in case a claim arises? So I sent them a notice for refund of my premium amount on 25/02/2012 & also made a complaint to IRDA. Still worse, I have not got any response from them & they are also not responding to IRDA notice in time, deadline for which was 11/03/12, and providing IRDA false information. Therefore, my advice, based on this experience, is not to purchase policy from unresponsive company HDFC Life, because it is a matter of security of your loved ones.”

These are not the only comment there are lot of them & don’t think that I am bashing HDFC Life because in most of other online term insurance plans people are facing similar things.

Insurance Advisor’s view on Offline Vs Online Term Insurance Plans

“Wanted to share a real-life incidence with you. About 3-4 days back, I was sitting and discussing insurance with one of my prospect. He was inclined towards ONLINE TERM PLAN (HDFC click2protect). He told me that he will be saving A LOT OF PREMIUM plus all the hassles. Plus, his wife is educated and smart enough woman to handle the matters on her own.

I asked him how many times his wife has gone to the insurance branch and submitted the premium. Let alone this COMPLICATED MATTER, does she even know which is the servicing branch for their policy?? How easily can she fill up forms for getting DRAFTs made or doing STOP PAYMENT of some cheque?? How is the experience for her to stand in the government offices to stand in the queue to get BIRTH CERTIFICATE/DEATH CERTIFICATE etc.. And not surprisingly, his well-educated wife has NEVER done any of these things..

..and suddenly he realized the importance of “HUMAN FACTOR” in this entire transaction, and now is going ahead with me for OFFLINE TERM PLAN.

May be that I am an insurance agent will portray that I am selfish or something, but I do request everybody to think objectively before taking up such plans.

..And I shudder to think of the scenario where wife would not even know that such a thing called ONLINE TERM PLAN existed in the cupboard??”

He also added

“OFFLINE and ONLINE claim settlement procedure as the same does not mean in both cases, the operations will be taking the same interest in doing the work. An agent has a FAMILY BONDING with the client over a period of time and for him, getting the claim settlement is personal matter unlike ONLINE thing where it will be a routine job, to be carried out in 9-to-6 manner..”

It will be great if you can share your experience in buying online term plan – this will be of immense help to other readers.

Hemant Beniwal is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and his Company Ark Primary Advisors Pvt Ltd is registered as an Investment Adviser with SEBI. Hemant is also a member of the Financial Planning Association, U.S.A and registered as a life planner with Kinder Institute of Life Planning, U.S.A.
He started his Financial Planning Practice & TFL Guide Blog in 2009. "The Financial Literates" is a dream & mission to make Indians Financial Literate.

140 COMMENTS

Hey, Wonderful Post again… Just want to Update you on my Experience with Kotak. As I said there was some Technical problem with filling up the Form But it has been Solved now and The Customer Service i got from Kotak Was really good. The Customer Service Representative was on phone with me throughout the Application Process online. After the Application Process got over, I got a call from a Different Department explaining me the documentation work that needs to be done from my end, plus the very next day the documents were picked up from my residence. Also they are sending a doctor over at home to complete the medicals tomorrow. Overall a very Satisying Customer Service from Kotak. It was just Initially they wehre not able to Figure out the Solution for the Technical Problem. Kotaks Customer Service is way way better than HDFC.

ps: Mr Dhawal has stated that “An agent has a FAMILY BONDING with the client over a period of time and for him” … now I would like to differ from his view… What is the Garuntee that the Agent will still be active after 25 years or so… my agent is already 55, what are the chances of him still active after 25 years… I would say that if you have a nominee who is Educated, than therre is no harm in going for ONLINE TERM PLAN.

Medicals for Insurance falls under two category: CATEGORY A – Where the doctor will be visiting your place and doing the routine MER consisting of Height, Weight, Body-mass index, blood and urine sample etc. CATEGORY B: Where you will be required to visit medical centers affiliated to insurance company. Medical tests over there could include ECG, Treadmill tests etc. ..Its only medical underwrite who decides which category the applicant falls into.. Nothing new in this. This routine has been going on for years..

Hi Harshit, Thanks of sharing your experience & that too a positive one 🙂 I have seen most of the time people who had bitter experience share it but people with positive experience think that it was a normal process 😉 I also agree with “What is the Garuntee that the Agent will still be active after 25 years “.

I started my search of online term policy from IRDA website. I collected different files from their website, and collated data of claim settlement. HDFC is best at @95%. Also, encouraged by Hemant’s review, and the fact that I am HDFC Bank’s “Preferred” customer, I decided to go for Click2Protect. However, I had some queries while filling-up the online form, so I sent them queries by email. Sadly, I have not received any reply till date. After waiting for a few days, I moved on to the next company on my list – both Bajaj Allianz & Kotak have nearly same ratio (@ 90%), and Kotak has lower premium. Again, I had queries with online form (e.g., details of my brother were not appearing in the generated PDF file). I sent email, and got response. I also received phone call. The rep. was very helpful. He asked me to send the documents by email after scanning. I paid premium on 16-3-12, sent documents on 18th or 19th. Soon, I got call from their local office for medical. When I went to the doctor, I was surprised to find that only Nicotine test was asked. Few days passed after the test, and I sent email enquiring status. This time rep. was not very knowledgeable about the status, and said that my application is with underwriters. However, I again received phone from local office for further tests. Now I could see the smartness & professionalism of Kotak. I had applied under non-tobacco user category. So, they first conducted only nicotine test. And when it was established that I am non-smoker, they asked for further tests. Tests were conducted in April first week. Policy issuance was a bit delayed though, and I received the policy on 21st Apr. Interestingly, policy start date is 1st Apr. Overall, I am satisfied with Kotak experience. Regarding “human factor”, what is the guarantee that your agent will be with the same company ? I took two ULIPs from Kotak & HDFC in 2008 (I know I made a mistake, and I am going to surrender them shortly:) Both the agents have changed jobs. HDFC agent is now working with LIC now, and Kotak agent has landed a govt job. A friend, LIC agent, is doing some other job in another city. Human touch is relevant only if the agent is close friend or family member.

@PARAG – You must be confusing an “employee” with an “agent.” An agent is required to pass the IRDA exam, being sponsored/trained by one particular company only, and when he clears the exam – he gets the certificate/license to represent that one company only. Its not transferable. For real-life example; I am a KOTAK life agent. So i cannot sell LIC or IPRU or HDFC. Nor can i shift/transfer my code/license to any other company and start selling policies from that company. AGENTS are associated with that particular insurance company on a “COMMISSION BASIS” and its not a JOB where they will be getting remuneration. So the people with whom you have dealt with, must be an employee who shift from one company to another for better package – just like in any other field of service. Other thing might be that you have dealt with a part-time agent; whose real interest or source of earning is some job, and selling insurance for him is just additional income or “QUICK BUCKS.” In that case, you can say that there is no guarantee whether the agent will be there or not.. But if you are dealing with FULL-TIME, QUALIFIED agent – i can bet that he will be there for you even after 30 years..

“An agent has a FAMILY BONDING with the client over a period of time and for him, getting the claim settlement is personal matter”

True. The human factor helps in claims processing but not necessarily in claim settlement. That depends on the honesty of the client, the circumstances of death, the age of the policy, and how fast the claims dept. work in general.

Having someone outside the claims dept to talk to during the claims process will help. Especially if there are delays.

Do we have good or bad experiences in claim processing for online plans? Or perhaps its good that we dont know!?

Do insurers have a clear cut process written for online claim processing?

Hi Pattu, Read this: In response to a Parliamentary query on the same issue, in November 2011 Minister of state for finance Namo Narain Meena said in Rajya Sabha that “Settlement of claims depends on the terms of policy contract rather than mode of sale. Therefore, claims under policies sold online would be settled in same way as policies sold on other modes so long as the terms of policy contract are the same”.

Over here in our blog, we have PERSONAL experiences but let me share experience/views of public at large. Almost 95% of the people are not happy with the ONLINE experience. Again, this has nothing to do with me being an agent. Its the conception gaining ground that ONLINE plans with dirt-cheap prices are just a ploy to attract people to the company and increase client base. How come something which costs (Premium) for Rs 18,000 by one company; is available for Rs 4,000 from another company in ONLINE MODE??..and that ANOTHER COMPANY in most of the cases are just new entrants into the market (Aegon Religare & Future Generali) or having PATHATIC claim settlement ratio (Aegon Religare).. Another thing, Companies with very good claim settlement ratio have their ONLINE plans on the higher side of the spectrum (Eg ICICI PRU or KOTAK or HDFC) as compared to the lower ones (Aviva or Bharti Axa)..can somebody answer WHY?? Quality comes at a price and so cheap price products/companies will surely behave cheaply..

U made an Excellent point, Should not jus go by the Premium amount…. and always look at the Claim settlement ratios too…. Hence we are not even considering talking about Aegon or Avivia ….. We are looking at buying online term plans of companies with high settlement ration …like KOTAK & HDFC ..

So here we are Buying Online term plan at a Fairly lower price than offline term plans… but keeping in mind the Claim Settlement Ratio !!a

Hi pattu I have come across a No. of posts/comments from you on various sites and appreciate your views. Hence this comment from you interets me. Could you pl. elaborate a little why you are not a fan of on-line insurance?

Hi Dhawal, I don’t agree with this “Almost 95% of the people are not happy with the ONLINE experience.” but I think you will agree that “95% of the agents who enroll for agency are not serious about this profession & may not survive even 10 years.” @Pattu – most of my clients who opted for online term plans including HDFC had a good experience. When claim settlement process is same for both online/offline & there is no guarantee that agent will be their when claim appears – don’t you think it’s better to save the premium. (I am not talking about LIC vs Private)

Agreed. Presence or absence of agent during claim settlement is not crucial. However I am worried that since the premiums vary the claim settlement norms are different. This information is normally not available in the public domain.

“How come something which costs (Premium) for Rs 18,000 by one company; is available for Rs 4,000 from another company in ONLINE MODE??”

companies aren’t doing charity. when they sell online, the agent commission is saved. marketing expenses are much lower online. and (this is my speculation) the kind of people who buy online are likely to be educated/economically well off and hence have access to better healthcare and hence lower claim ratio. hence the lower premium.

“Almost 95%” does not require me to collect any sample data or any such exercise. Even if i go by what people are sharing here on the blog, in this very topic thread, 95% of the people are having BAD experience. Personally, Me being an Agent and meeting lot many people on a routine basis – have seen people who have tried for ONLINE option and now opting for OFFLINE mode, because of poor customer support or online assistance etc. Might be its my own perception, but i still stand by my statement..

With your imagination running wild (As you put it as SPECULATION), do you mean to say the kind of people purchasing TERM PLAN in OFFLINE mode (through An agent) are likely to be less educated/economically poor?? Sorry, you are way-way off the mark. I have my clientale who have taken TERM PLAN from me and who are part of the senior-most management. Should i believe that they are not tech-savy or dont have access to better healthcare. In fact, one of my client is a senior cardiologist at Medanta Medicity..

I find it quite amusing – if i go by your logic – that economically well off are searching for ONLINE plans every now and than for TERM PLAN who is offering CHEAPEST PREMIUM and by the same logic – economically less well off are paying HUGE PREMIUMs 😉

Sorry, in real life, it does not work like this..Agent’s commission or marketing has nothing to do with it..Agent anyway is not going to get anything from second year onwards (I get 4% on TERM PLAN renewal premium from 2nd year onwards)..And all the companies who are offering ONLINE TEMR PLAN are spending huge amounts all over the town to promote themselves (Example is HDFC and AEGON)..

This is pure and simple ploy to increase customer base by the insurance company by offering LESS PREMIUM as bait, to which many of the SELF-PROFESSED elite are luring in..

@Dhawal… having a lower cost “is a pure and simple ploy to increase customer base by the insurance company”…. as opposed to paying agents commissions to ensure that they do not have a bigger customer base huh?

Online distribution is a lot more rapid and adopting than any other mode.. the cost of marketing overall is still cheaper than the money it takes to put agents through III training and accept attrition and non performers..

We are guessing that with a 50 lac term plan you still bought your own plane tickets to wherever you went from an online site… MMT, Cleartrip, Yatra or even airline sites…. do you think insurance will be any different… non term we can understand.. but term… ?

Sorry, i missed out the word “NEW” insurance companies in the market, to the above sentence..LIC did not feel the need to increased its market base by adopting these gimmicks of ONLINE TERM PLAN..

Why is it that AEGON RELIGARE, with the cheapest Online term plan as of today is having the worst CLAIM SETTLEMENT RATIO??

Online medium is more suited to things sold and brought which are tangible in nature, and not some LIFE-LONG commitments. If your trip does not go well or you did not find rooms/food/arrangments to your liking, you can always shift from MAKEMYTRIP to YATRA for the next time, but there will be NO next time in ONLINE TERM PLAN for nominee of the policyholder..

and do you think TERM PLAN is so simple and uncomplicated?? Read this entire blog and comment thread. Do you always knew the answer to all queries/concerns/questions here. If no, then how can say that it is so simple to understand and buy TERM INSURANCE??

..and yes, everybody can save money at every level but compromising on fee of a specialist (Yes – i am talking about professional and full-time agents) to save money for online movie ticket or air-ticket seems risky to me at least..

I have been following HDFC post very closely and was very disappointed with this company with the negative feedback pouring in.

I feel online policies have a great future but it needs to mature a lot. Company can save a lot of cost, customers can save lot of money if things are placed properly with good intentions. As of now, it seems far from reality.

Does it mean purchasing policies from insurance agents is going to ensure a smooth transaction? I don’t know but with the kind of image insurance agents have portrayed in the past does not give me any comfort. Only thing insurance agents care about is their commission. They don’t care if right product is sold to the customer, they don’t care about the claim settlement to the nominee. I agree with Harshit when he said how do I know if the agent would still be active when he is needed.

Verdict – Online or Offline, just go with what you are comfortable. Both options as of today in my opinion are equally good/bad with their own pros/cons. If you think your nominee is educated enough to settle online claims, go for an online insurance. If you think your nominee cannot handle it then go for an agent although a fight might be required there as well. In both the cases make sure your nominee is aware of all the policy documents, claim process and escalation points.

Hi Vivek, I agree with you that it clearly depend on comfort level with the process. Even depending on agent for such important thing may make a person complacent – which is not right, family should be guided in advance for the process.

1) While comparing Online and Offline Plans,why do we always consider consider AEGON. we are all literates and we know that we wont be buying Insurance from a company with such a Low Claim settlement ratio…

2) Sure, all that u mentioned doesn’t matter the most, but our First Priority would be Claim Settlement ratio and than may be look at Customer Service, Which might help during Settlements….

3) I do kinda Agree with u, its a Gamble…. But Insurance is a Safe Bet !!

4) LIC is jus Pathetic…. all its product are commission Driven… I hardly see any product of LIC giving a good Risk cover based on the Premium paid, neither do i see any products giving a return of 8% CAGR.

Few days back i talked to one of the PRO of HDFC Life about bad feedback for HDFC Click2 protect. I get a reply that they know about this. They agree some delay in processing because of overwhelming response.

I am planning to buy it. The good part is that they say they will be sending an “adviser” to your home to fill up the online form and collect required documents. Remember Its not an agent. So the premium would be same as shown in example. So its a good fact that they are serious about business. And they said there are lot of things other than filling up form and paying premium online. So sometimes customers are not paying proper attention to it.

Hi Hemant, As i mentioned i was planning to buy term plan from HDFC through RM. I already read lot of bad reviews of HDFC click2 protect here. But my experience was good. I got my policy in just 1 month. After purchasing the policy through RM online, i got call from medical team for medical test in a week time. even though i delayed medical test by one week, due to some other engagements, i got the policy exactly on 30th day. I got confirmation call for medical from local HDFC team. Also got confirmation call on policy dispatch in 3rd week. Thus my overall experience is good. But one thing i will clarify there is a load of 3% involved in this procedure. Though i don’t consider it much due to the fact that you are assure of everything goes fine with filling form and documents are as per requirement. Thumbs up…..

Hi After reading these comments, I would like to share my experience with HDFC Click 2 Protect.

I have applied for a term plan where my husband is the Life Insured and I am the nominee. We filled the application and paid the 1st premium in the last week of Jan 2012. Since my husband is a diabetic, we knew for sure that we would have to pay additional premium for the sum assured.

Its almost 3 months now since the submission of application. This morning we got an email stating that they will issue the policy with an increase in premium. Accordingly, we went to the nearest HDFC life branch and submitted the consent letter & cheque for the additional premium. Hopefully, we’ll get the policy in a couple of weeks.

I feel that 2 to 3 months is a decent timeline for issuance of an online policy as we had delayed submission of the documents in the first place. Had we been a little more proactive, we could have got the policy sooner.

My experience with the customer support is as follows:- a) They keep you on hold for 10 to 15 minutes before answering your call. b) The quality of people hired by HDFC life for their online policy customer care department is extremely poor. They are not trained with regards to the product & its process and most of them are not fluent in english . c) There seems to be a gap & lack of communication within departments of HDFC Life. We would get repeated calls asking for documents in spite of getting an acknowledgement from them for having received it. d) The only additional document they asked for was a diabetic questionnaire and copies of earlier medical tests (after undergoing their medical test)

Apart from this we did not face any issues. Got the verification call on the next day itself and medical test was conducted within 15 days of our application.

To all the men who have commented here, I would suggest that you involve your wife or whoever your nominee is in the whole online policy process, so that they are aware about the documentation submitted, premium payment, nearest branch, etc.

It was easier for us since both of us are actively involved in our financial planning & decision making.

Hi Hemant, After reading all the experinces on online term policy, I would like to share mine I have taken a term policy form ICICI icare . I had a fantastic experince. Their wesite is very upto date and no hassles in filling the form. Also the costumer care is good . You get a prompt follow up. After filling the form online and paying the premium, I received the email and the SMS of the payment. After 2 working days , I could see the policy status online. After 5 working days , my policy came into force, but I didnot get the soft coy of the policy document. I instantly called the customer care and sent they soft copy of the premium receipt , the policy document and well as other documents withn 24 hrs. I received the hard copy within 3 days after that In the free loop period, I had good experince with ICICI pudential. Now my policy is in force. I agree , the premium is bit high , but u get peace of mind. 🙂 Thanks

I guess I should share my experience with HDFC Click 2 Protect too. One word – Miserable. I submitted the relevant documents on January 9, 2012 and basically the policy did not get issued until early April, after which I just decded to withdraw the application itself. In those 3 months, I basically jumped like a crazy ball among various customer service reps, who either blamed the process or the system. Like someone mentioned, if this is how long it takes to issue a policy (for whatever reason), claim processing will take an eternity. Getting the money back (initial premium) though was a painles execrcise.

I am now looking at either ICICIPru for the term plan. Only problem is that their product doesn’t have a medical which causes me to believe that the premiums are alraedy priced that manner, so need to do some more due diligence.

I have bought an online term plan from ICICI PRUDENTIAL. I had a good experience. I did not face any problems in filling up the form or paying the premium or obtaining the documents. I dont know how many days it took in receiving the hard copy of the policy but I got it in soft copy within a period of 4-5 days of paying the premium. Their customer support is also quite good.

My experience with HDFC Life Click-2-Protect was similar to Harshit. After almost 2.5 months, with 2 rounds of medicals, I suddenly see a refund on my credit card statement of the exact amount I had paid for term insurance from HDFC Life. Again, inquiry revealed nothing, call center agents do not know anything, or say hardly anything. Left hand does not know what the right is doing.

In the entire process of the online application, sending documents via email/ courier, there was utter confusion for me in dealing with customer service. It took over 20 minutes each time to get any response. Got multiple calls for documents even after I had sent the documents via courier and email, after final medical was over, they asked to me sign the proposal document and send by email (which I did). To my utter frustration, people were again calling to confirm if I had sent the signed document. They had no clue whether the documents were received or not, even after 10 days of submission by email. And then the surprise on the credit card statement.

The entire process shook my confidence in HDFC, which I take as a very thorough and process oriented organisation. I am very surprised that in the race to launch their online product, gain market share, and to compete with other players in a hurry, their back-end was not fully ready. They just lost their credibility as far as I am concerned.

In the meanwhile, I have changed jobs and cities. I am waiting for LIC to launch their online term plan now so I can get an idea of what kind of premiums would be available from them and therefore it will be a couple of months before I apply again to someone again in a hurry. (I already have a 50L cover from LIC (30 yr term, Amulya Jeevan) and 20L from LIC (30 yr, Whole Life Jeevan Anand)

I bought ICICI iProtect last year and HDFC C2P this year. Experience with both was pathetic. Lots of e-mail/tele communications, follow-ups – and then no result. But the difference between these two was my expectation. In the case of ICICI, I was over-excited about taking an online term-plan. So, I felt frustrated and cheated by their attitude. Also, I had cancelled the policy as soon as I received it. In the case of HDFC, I already knew what to expect. I never expected them to call me or mail me about the status. Finally I got the policy after 2 months.

Few points:

Firstly, if you are purchasing any newly launched online term plan, be ready for the delay. In new set-up, responsiblity distribution is not done properly. So even after sending documents, you might get the response like ‘Please send the document’. Once a set-up gets established, these problems do not happen. I’ve heard that ICICI is providing much better service than one year back. Also, HDFC was having just one customer care number at starting, now they have 2-3 for different stages.

Second point is correctness. Make sure that whatever you are filling is correct. If you change anything during phone verification, it’ll take another week for underwriters.

Third point is, you should not take rest until you receive the policy. Consider this as a cost of online policy. Call them continuously, if there is any issue. Also, for sending documents, don’t rely on e-mails. Visit a branch, and communicate in person. In my case, I had problems with documents and medical letters. Both problems got sorted out in minutes, once I visited the branch. Had I taken this step earlier, I would have received the poilcy within a month, may be.

Fourth, according to me, experience of buying should not be related to claim settlement. Suppose you got a policy in two minutes – Very Good. But if have not declared anything correctly, your claim could get rejected – Very Bad. Vice-versa of the above also holds true.

Lastly, Online/offline is a personal preference thing. Depends upon what you/your family are comfortable with. Whatever you take, don’t forget to educate your spouse/nominee. No agent/internet/book can help her/him later, better than what you can do right now!!

Hi Prasoon, As mentioned by you – lot of frustration is due to high expectation. We think buying insurance is like buying book from flipkart – you feel delighted when it is delivered next day. I fully agree with this point “if you are purchasing any newly launched online term plan, be ready for the delay. In new set-up, responsiblity distribution is not done properly. “

Interesting article and nice to know readers views on their online policies. Personally, I have taken an online term plan from IndiaFirst Life Insurance and had no problems whatsoever.

Regarding the claim settlement ratio, I think that this should not be taken as the only reason for selecting an online term plan as most of these companies are new in the insurance market and there could be mistakes from the consumer end as well.

My only gripe about such online insurance policies are that you are never really sure of what is going on in the background, because sometimes the whole process is so simple and quick that you are unsure if you have done things right!

Please Check the Claim Settlement ratio of Aviva, the whole purpose of Life insurance goes for a Toes when the claim settlement ratio is Low. Would Recommend go with Kotak (Persoanl Experience) or ICICI (Few Readers herehave given good Reviews)

I purchased Aegon Religare Term Plan for me and my wife and the experience has been excellent. The team in general and Shraddha kadam in particular was superb. Everything worked well. I was actually pleasantly surprised with an issue. The online information was asking medical history for last 5 years. I had undergone a minor operation 10 years back and my wife around 8 years back. I wrote to them by way of an email as I did not want the claim to be rejected in case of any eventuality. The surprise was that when the policy documents came, the email was printed as a part of the policy documents. So tomorrow no one can dispute whether mail sent or not sent or received/not received.

Its good to hear your Positive Experience, but sir did u checked Aegon’s Claim Settlement ratio, its just 52.31%, it simply means that the chances of your claim getting passed is 52.31% …. Just Think over it !!

Yes. I did. Though the IRDA website gives total settlement ration, I read in the newspapers (giving reference to IRDA) that the claim settlement ratio of claims beyond 2 years is in excess of 90%. In fact Aegon was no. 3 or no. 4 in the list. In terms of term insurance, out of 7 claims , 6 were honoured and 1 rejected due to the insured not disclosing his medical ailments. See yaar, at the end of the day, we will not be there to followup the claim of any insurance company. It is our family. As long as we are truthful in giving our information, the chances of rejection is less.

1. If a Life Insurance company is operating since 50 years, having sold 1000 policies with Claims paid for 990 cases, Claim settlement ratio would be: 99%.

2. For a Life Insurance company is operating since 2 years, having sold 20 policies with Claims paid for 19 cases, Claim settlement ratio would be: 95%.

Claim settlement ratio is irrelevant over here. People who have considered it as a criterion should look within themselves whether they have been honest with their Insurance companies Or are they expecting each and every policy holder to be a Raja Harishchandra who hasn’t concealed any material fact while buying the policy.

Better to go for transparent and serious players of the Industry rather than looking for such irrelevant ratios.

Hi, I got Aviva I-Life policy for myself and the whole process was very smooth. I had read some negative reviews like the premium increasing after the medical test but did not face any issues at all. The customer care person leads you through the online form. Just call up the customer care number and tell them that you are interested in the policy. Make sure you have Internet and payment details available with you. The form filling takes around 15-20 mins and then you have to choose the medical date and centre.

After giving the medical tests, they contacted me over mail saying the policy details will be sent via courier. I received it in a few days. I am based out of Bangalore.

DEAR READERS, LET ME SHARE MY VERY OWN EXPERIENCE WITH BUYING TERM PLAN FROM HDFC i.e. HDFC CLICK 2 PROTECT. I BOUGHT THE PLAN ON 18TH DECEMBER AND IT WAS REALLY SPEAKING 10 MINUTES JOB ON THE NET. I GOT THE POLICY DOCUMENTS ON 18TH JANUARY 2012 i.e. EXACTLY 1 MONTH AFTER APPLICATION WHICH IS AS PER THEIR PROTOCOL. ABSOLUTELY NO COMPLAINTS. VERY EASY AND REALLY A 10 MINUTE JOB

Initially I tried doing it myself on their website. However the website was too slow and I had to contact the customer care. My contact details were passed on to a Relationship manager (HDFC Life employee) who visited my place and told me about the entire process.

Even though it is an online policy, there is an option to buy it through their Relationship Managers (who suggest going through themselves to avoid any inconvenience involved in submitting the documents etc). It costs around 2-3% extra if you buy through them.

After agreeing to buy the policy through him, I could not see any difference in the process. He just logged in with his official id and I completed the form online myself. Even the premium was paid online.

However, the policy document was delivered to me pretty quickly and I did not have to wait much for the same.

Benefit of buying through the RM: I did not have to scan and upload the documents myself. Instead I had to give photocopies to him for submission.

Lesson learnt: Do it yourself (instead of through the RM). Going through the RM and paying 3% extra over a span of 30 years is not worth it.

Hi Gaurav, Your comment is raising some serious issue – “Why HDFC would like to involve their RM or Agents in this process?” In case of RM additional 3% should not be charged as that money should only go to some agent. Are they planning to cross-sell other policies after introducing RM/agent??

It seems they do plan to cross-sell other policies. I had actually planned to buy a policy to cover my home loan. However, it was this RM (his designation says “Direct Sales Manager – Direct” and his email id is “@hdfclife.in” and he confirmed that he’s an employee of HDFC Life, not an agent). He only recommended that I go for a pure Term Plan instead of going for a home loan cover.

And he himself showed me the diff in premiums (purchasing directly viz a viz purchasing through him…). In my case, it came out to be approx 3%, but I’m not sure if it remains a % based calculation for all premiums, or if they have some other calculation for the same.

By the way, do u have any idea if it is allowed as per IRDA or other regulatory norms?

Also, the role of involving this RM could be to let him convince people to buy higher risk cover.

Hemant One of the commnets above (from pattu) reads-since the premiums vary the claim settlement norms are different. That’s interesting. Theoretically the settlements norms should not be difefrent for different premium ? isn’t it? But in practice is it happening like that? Your take?

“I had applied for this product on 7-Jan-2012 & paid the premium online through net banking. Today’s is 24 Apr-2012 still I have not received my policy documents. Whenever I called to Customer care they said ‘Your policy is in final stage’. This has been happening since last one month. Since then I received no response from HDFC life through any of the channels (mail, phone, email or otherwise). The Customer Care service (mail, phone, email or otherwise) are very poor and Pathetic. They never give the correct status infect they also don’t have correct status. When you called them they always said that they will get back to you in next two business days but this wont happened and again I have to call them to check the status of my policy. Many times I have escalated these points to their Manger as well but situation does not change. I just wanted to check that is there any time frame for get issued the Policy after submitting the Application. I guess it should be otherwise these HDFC Guys are really using our money for period of 4-5 months without providing any Insurance cover I would suggest please refer other similar plans instead of HSDFC Life.

Hi Srivatsan, I completely agree with you. The IDA site, i have thoroghly searched it for relevant documents, does not have any thing remotely related to online term plans. But i think it will too much far fetched to believe that any insurance company will be ever agreeing to this idea. A more feasible and practical approach would be to have IRDa seggregate the data pertaining to insurance claims on the following lines: 1) The claim settlement ratio of policies that are 3-to-5 years old versues older policies. 2) The claim settlement ratio of term versus traditional versus ULIP policies. 3) The actual number of policies sold in in each of the three categories, term/traditional/ULIP, by a company in a particular SA group. The SA group can be, say: TERM: 1L to 10L, 10L to 25L, 25l to 100L and 100L+ TRADITIONAL: 0.25L to 1L, 1L to 5L, 5l to 10L and 10L+ ULIPS: 0.25L to 1L, 1L to 5L, 5l to 10L and 10L+ The performance of the claim settlement ratio for online term plans may not be avialable as they were launched not more than 3-4 years back. But i do agree that the hurdles faced and delay caused during the proposal of insurance may lead to a negative imge built up in the minds of the current as well as prospective customers, however i do not think that it may have a bearing on the claim settlement of the policy in the event of the death of LI. I have been following this blog and the article related to choosing the best term plan for almost a year now. After reading much here and at other sources, i tried to reach many companies for online term plan in Sept last year. The response from, SURPRISE, MetLife india was great and that kind of prompted me to go for life cover from them for me (35L) and my wife(25L). One more thing they were the only company providing the cover for a maximu period of 35 years at that time. I remember that i insisted on getting my medical check-up done as i am a smoker and someone from the local pathological laboratory came to collect the sample on next working day. The whole process of submitting the documents and paymet were completed in 15-20 days and gotr an acknowledgement in less than a month for issuance of my policy. My wife’s policy document came in 10 days from acknowledgement and mine came in another weeks time. I am in presently a nuclear family set-up and the reason that I got my wife insured, even though many would go for only the bread-earners insurance, was that her, god forbid, untimely loss will definetily cause turmoil in the lives of my son and i and i may have to discontinue my work for sometime to attend to the needs of the child. My wife, and many would agree, gives me the strength to go out for winning daily bread because i know i have a place called home where my needs would be taken care of when i reach it tired and exhausted. Even when he may grow up i may not be able to continue working full-time affecting my earning capacity. I already had a term plan from LIC for 10L fro my self before going for MetLife’s online plan. I wish to beef up my cover in another 3-4 years period by another 30-50L to reach the critical mass of around 100L when i will be peaking at the age between 35 to 55 years with maximum responsibilities. Thereafter as my responsibilities will start reducing with each passing year, my premium outgo will keep on reducing.

I was actually confused between online and offline. Finally i decided to go with HDFC online and it was a smooth experience . I have already completed my medical check up and also got an sms from hdfc stating that the policy document has been send by courier with the docket no. I have confirmed with the courier company and they should be delivering it within next 3 days. The most important thing during this whole procedure was that i was personally assisted by an employee from hdfc. Also the premium remains the same whether you do it on your own or take the assistance of an employee. At every step i was kept informed ,right from filling up the form online, collecting documents, arranging medical check up, to conversion of policy. Also while filling up the form for this HDFC policy , i referred a form filled for the existing policy from LIC and discovered that the information provided by me was not the same in the form of LIC. My parents health state was declared as good inspite of me telling the agent that it is not. So even after the agent my form has been wrongly filled. Following points to be considered while taking term policies. 1. Be sure of what you are filling in the forms. If there is any doubt, get it cleared with the concerned executive or discuss it on forums ( like TFL, Jagoinvestor). I got a lot of assistance from these forums. 2. Fill the form by yourself and ask for the copy of it after everything is filled up. 3. If available, carry out the process with the help of employees from the companies .( Its available under HDFC click to protect). 4. Keep in touch with the employee about the status and next step. Dont just sit back and expect them to follow up. 5. Last and most important. BE HONEST WHILE FILLING THE FORM.

1. Online is instant doccumentation episode online. In my case I had taken online health and accident policy each of ICICI Lombard for my wife and my sister. But when soft copy was recieved I found that one health policy each for mu wife and sister was issued but two acciental policy was issued in my wife’s name whereas no accidental policy was issued for my sister. I requested the one online who completed the process but he was unable to do and advised to contact their Customer Care and ultimately nothing happened. Thy are very much forward looking for selling their product but least bother to correct even the mistake done by them. They should realise the difficulties of the customer.

Online purchase of insurance, investments are done mostly by internet savy one. Purchase, renewal and claim/ redemption all is done online only. Entire transaction depends on username and password. It is not necessarily dependent like wife or any ne in the family are inernet savy or they know the username and password of each every such transactions. In such case how the claim can be settled online.

Hi Ajai Kumarji, I am specificly discussing about “term insurance claim settle” here. I had the same doubt which u mentioend in the above post. So I go it cleared from the Insurance company. They said that , even though the policy is taken online, the dependents an claim the settlement offline i.e by going to the insurance company office in person and submitting the hard copy of the policy as well as the other required documents. So no need to worry about the claim settlement process. It will be in the conventional way only. I have confirmed this doubt with 2 insurance companies. They all had same view about claim settlement.

I don’t think you need any username and password for claim settlement. All you need is the policy documents and need to approach the customer care directly or visit the branch yourself. Since there is no agent involved in the online purachase you need to approach the company directly. They don’t expect nominee to know any username/password or be an internet savvy.

Dear Friends, My experience with the agents were the the happy ones for them, it may be endowment or ULIP or Pension policy. I was forced to take an ULIP for my wife for Rs.50000/ annum premium by the ‘agent cum branch manager’ of a PSU bank in Chennai in return for a safety locker. We closed that policy in the free look period, though we lost about Rs.600/-. Off late I started beleiving that “Any form of insurance is a scam” as pointed out by Mr.Srivatsan. I have dropped my plan for taking term plan(s). I am thinking of taking Accident policies as I believe that they are cost effective and claim settlement can be trouble free. Kindly suggest me the few good accident policies and the points to keep in mind before taking accident policies. I find it very difficult to get an informative articles on accident policies.

Dear Experts. I want to mention that I applied for Aegon Religare i-term plan and found it interesting. It’s a online plan and based on my criteria I paid the premium once I filled online application. Advantages: 1. You can fill your own details which will be best of your knowledge. 2. You can pay your premiums through Card (online), again a safe method. 3. Upon reliazation of your payment, executives will call and fix an appointment in your home or nearby hospitals which is hassle-free. 4. You can track your e-quote status online. 5. You can reach to toll-free call centre to know the current status.

I applied almost 15 days back and within couple of days the Medicals has been conducted in home itself and they took a TAT of 10 days to revert based on medical. I cleared the Medicals and within 1-2 days both the soft and hard copy of the policy is in my hand.

Therefore, I would highly rate Aegon Religare as a very good one after reading the post about HDFC term insurance.

I would also propose to go through policybazaar.com as I went through that and they helped me in filling the forms and cleared all my doubts while filling application. They also project 2-3 insurance companies and clarifies any further queries we have about the companies, claim-settlement ratios, etc.

I would recommend Aegon at this point of time after getting the initial services.

1. If a Life Insurance company is operating since 50 years, having sold 1000 policies with Claims paid for 990 cases, Claim settlement ratio would be: 99%.

2. For a Life Insurance company is operating since 2 years, having sold 20 policies with Claims paid for 19 cases, Claim settlement ratio would be: 95%.

Claim settlement ratio is irrelevant over here. People who have considered it as a criterion should look within themselves whether they have been honest with their Insurance companies Or are they expecting each and every policy holder to be a Raja Harishchandra who hasn’t concealed any material fact while buying the policy.

Better to go for transparent and serious players of the Industry rather than looking for such irrelevant ratios.

I really dont find the presence of HUMAN FACTOR , so important. I took an LIC insurance policy by an agent ( 55 yrs old) , All the documentation were done by him. The first premium was paid trough him but after that he never checked with us about next premiums as we pay through internet banking. I tried to quit the policy as it was quite expensive and also suggested by many. I tried to take help from my agent but he never took interest and he explained bla.. bla..bla…. What I want to say is there is no guarantee that an agent will be helpful for claiming .So why give more money for same service including an agent in procedures of taking an insurance plan . An online insurance plan definitely gives piece of mind . We must make sure to know all the procedures etc.. to claim it after all knowledge is the power. So I think the criteria for choosing an online term plan should be , the claim settlement ratio and the brand name .

Spot on Sangeeta! Agent or no agent does not make any difference. You have to educate your nominee with the process and escalation point and prepare them to fight for the claims. No one is going you the money without putting up a fight.

i yet to buy plan through online. but not decided of which brand. i think whatever the way to buy a plan and whatever the brand, people should be aware of their own requirement, own ability to continue. i also think that insurance should be of insurance. and it may be a poor service by LICI, it is still in the mind of people for its claim ratio. others need to flourish more in all point of view to catch up market…………

Hi Hemant, I had a query regarding purchasing online Term Insurance Plan. I hometown is lucknow but I am presently working in some other city and My Job is transferreble also. I intend to buy online term plan of HDFC through some agent or HDFC Life Relation ship manager. though I have not finilised yet. Should I purchase it from my present city where I am working or should I take it from my hometwon only. Does it make any difference from which city Plan is purchased if I purchase directly or through any Agent/Relationship Manager. Is it possible to transfer the policy to other city once policy is issued. It is possible in case of LIC, But I am not sure about other companies. I have a term insurance from Max new york , I am planning tu buy one Online Term Plan and One Amulya Jeevan though one of my friend who is employee of LIC. Note: I have posted the above in some other blog also, Put I am putting again here because I think it is better article for this query. There is no option delete your post once you have posted, sorry for inconvience

One thing about HDFC which other might have not pointed is that, their insurance period is in multiple of 5 years. Even if policy term is 30 years, once you cross the 5 year block period you will avail of insurance cover for lower period only.

For E.g. if my age is 36 hence i will be eligible for insurance coverage for the period of 25 years only, even if i am eligible for 29 years term plan. ( As HDFC allowed up to max age of 65).So they very cleverly fooling the customer.

Further i went for taking for my spouse whose age is 30. We completed all the formality, after much difficulty, b’coz once session interrupted even after saving and existing, you have to fill the form again and again. Once that process completed. Regarding document submission, as document size they accept very small.So i mailed to them, but the JPG or PDF format didn’t open at their end as they use open office software( as officer told me). Than i physically courier the document to them and than policy issued. I choose to buy as i already paid, otherwise its very bad online option.

Anyone other than more than the age of 35, should not go for HDFC LIfe Policy. Instead go for ICICI Pru or Kotak.

Regarding ICICI Pru, it was very easier to get the policy online but again , their customer care is pathetic.

Last month, I wanted to take 50 lakh term plan. So, On 19th of march, I applied 25 lakh for HDFC (click2 protect) policy and 25 lakh Bharti Axa term plan policy.

I got my Bharti Axa term plan yesterday. No medical was needed. So, It took around 35 days. I only called twice to know the status and they told me Insurance is confirmed and you will receive in 15-20 days max and i received also. Overall, My experience was good.

As far as HDFC (Click2 protect) is concerned. Service is pathetic. They told me send documents three times. Despite of sending documents three times, I have not received any confirmation when i will get my policy. Every week, I call once/twice and they keep saying “It’s in processing phase”. Even Customer care executives have no idea what “Processing” means. They say, I might need to give medical if needed but they don’t know when. It’s already been 5 weeks and still in process. As of now, I am not sure if i will get my insurance even in 2 months. Customer and overall service is pathetic and worst. “Keep calling, Keep sending documents, Keep waiting and waiting if you are lucky, You will get your Insurance in minimum 2 months”.

I have more or less decided to withdraw my application next week and will apply for ICICI term plan. Indeed, One of my friend got ICICI policy in a week only. I am sure, even if i withdraw my HDFC policy after waiting for 5 weeks and apply fresh to ICICI. I will get my insurance from ICICI before HDFC. 🙂

one more advice. Maintain few close friends relatives who can take up the issues in case of any tragedy. Keep all your a/c details, policies, loans details etc. in book and inform your spouse about the same(keep it secret from CBI etc. if required!). Do not depend on Agent or any broker to do the help.

I replied to Arup Das’s query of postal life insurance. The comment was displayed as it is under moderation. Now I see it has been removed. Please let me know the reason so that I can be aware as to why it has been removed.

I had applied for Aviva. The online form was not user friendly. Ex: If you want to put your past medical history, the form will not allow to put details beyond certain characters. Neverthless, I mentioned everything to them in email. The process was smooth. I had to just take a urine test but no blood test. In case, of LIC Term plan, I had both the tests.

My experience with HDFC click2protect (for 35lk, 30 yr policy term) is not that bad so far. With in a week time after I paid the online premium and sent the required docs online, they acknowledged receiving docs. Of course after that no communication, no mail, no phone call nothing. Not even an inquiry call from them. Today when I made a call to customer care, i am told that policy in “In Force or active” and shared me the policy num and the policy copy will be mailed soon. I accessed the policy information online as well.

Not sure it all happened so quickly for good or bad as many are struggling with their service, Dont know 🙂 –thanks

Hi, A very relevant thread as I am looking for buying 2nd term life policy. I am actually awaiting for LIC online term policy to be launched (which is in been covers for I think at least 6-8 months now). I have bought my 1st term life policy online from Aviva (iLife Term policy). This was around 6 months back for Rs 30 Lakhs and for 20 years span. The decision to zero down on Aviva iLife was partly based on the information I could gather from forums like this then and partly from the claim settlement ratio. The entire cycle of the purchase to issue as smooth and completed in 6 working days. This could be probably because I am non smoker, with out any other health issues and/or the coverage amount. Hence there were NO health check up needed. The lack of any queries actually still makes me think if this is a good approach on part of Aviva.

While I can understand that the type of participants on forum like this are 99% buyers, it would be really helpful if there are experiences shared, good and bad, from someone who had to complete the policy claim due to unfortunate circumstances of the policy holder no more. I understand this is a touch issue but term life is meant to cover those whom one leave after the demise.

Hi, Let me share my experience with HDFC Click2Protect. I filled the online application form and paid the premium after a thorough research for term insurance for 2 months. I got a call from their call center requesting for my time for medical tests. I got a letter for medicals next week and i attended medicals. The doctor explained the basic things i need to do keep myself fit like 30 mins walk daily, good food habits etc. I was issued the policy for 50L after 1 week of my medicals and i can see the medical reports online. I had very good experience with HDFCLife at every step and their premium is very attractive. I feel if we provide all the relevant info and upload the documents along with the application, there wont be any delay in issuing the policy. It took less than 1 month in my case. Happy buying online at cheaper rates.

well frnd. u r right. the point of difference (i.e. premium) that u made is appreciated. but do u have any idea or do u compare the process of getting claim of the two (AVIVA & LIC) and also the claim ratio? i think this should be an important criterion to purchase term plan. if u dont mind……….. i suggest diversity in purchasing term plan. at least one must give claim during those ‘black’ days.

1. If a Life Insurance company is operating since 50 years, having sold 1000 policies with Claims paid for 990 cases, Claim settlement ratio would be: 99%.

2. For a Life Insurance company is operating since 2 years, having sold 20 policies with Claims paid for 19 cases, Claim settlement ratio would be: 95%.

Claim settlement ratio is irrelevant over here. People who have considered it as a criterion should look within themselves whether they have been honest with their Insurance companies Or are they expecting each and every policy holder to be a Raja Harishchandra who hasn’t concealed any material fact while buying the policy.

Better to go for transparent and serious players of the Industry rather than looking for such irrelevant ratios.

I am 30 year old. I had no issues with HDFC. I purchased HDFC click 2 protect on 15 April 12, and followed by medical test in 24 Apr 12, after that no information from them. My policy was issued on 7 May and i received the documents on 12 May. In between i had called them once to know the status, i got the proper answer. Totally i am satisfied with their service.

Hi, I am 26 year old. I purchased HDFC click 2 protect on Feb 12. Policy Amt is 30L, I am Smoker (Not a Chain Smoker) Also my Mom was suffer from kidney disease now she is no more with us….& my DAD have High B.P. i mention that all while apply for policy. After paid first premium I got call from them regarding document submission & also they inform me if needed we arrange ur medical test, after providing all relevant Doc. I received confirmation mail after the two day’s from them (it is OK), & after that I was waiting for call from them for medical test but I got SMS ur Policy issued & policy No is///// you will get ur policy in next few days ( also they provide me POD no for track status). I called him for Medical test but they informed it’s not required Now I have My policy with no any nightmare experience & all my Bad Hobbits (which I still try to leave) & family medical history is mention over Policy I think the only Not reading & filling proper & right information while applying for policy is coz for inconvenience ( Sorry! May be i wrong) Dear Hemant Sir, As you told I divide my Total Policy cover need, I want total 50L cover for secure my family so I get 30L Policy from HDFC & now search for remaining 20L policy with other provider. Also I am really thanks you for providing financial information before joining ur blogs was many question in my mind & now I have answer. Thanks/ Sagar D.

My age 34, I have purchased HDFC click2protect on 11-Apr-2012 for sum assured 75,00,000, Total Premium I paid 12,385 . I am having Diabetic and based on past health history, after all medical tests they loaded extra charges and now the premium amount Rs.22,238 . they are asking my confirmation and pay the remaining due or cancel. I feel that amount is too costly, thinking to cancel it.

Hemanth/Anil, Can you please suggest me what is the impact or consequences if I cancel HDFC click2protcet and buy some online term insurence policy from Aviva or Kotak, etc. also Please suggest which one can I buy Or shall I continue with click2protect ? Awaiting for your suggestion before I proceed further.

Even if u go for any other insurer, u will be loaded with more or less same amount of extra premium. Even I am diabetic and having term insurance from both Kotak and HDFC at extra premium more than what you are being loaded. So Don’t cancel the policy and accept it blindly.

I am an NRI working in Muscat for last 12 years. I am seeing a number of web articles about term assurance plans now a days and the market shows that many people are really attracted with the term plans in India.

The real attraction of a term plan is nothing but it’s low cost. One can get insurance protection at a very low premium when comparing with the other insurance products. But, is it true.? Are these term plans offering insurance protection at a low cost.? At least for NRIs, I am sure that term plans are becoming costlier than olden days.

In general, when an NRI apply for a term plan, the insurance company will insist for a medical check up. The medical test will be mandatory if the applicant’s age is more than 35. If any of the health parameter (like cholesterol, sugar, bp etc) are slightly high, the applicant will be asked to pay an extra premium which will be 40% to 60% of basic premium for NRIs.

For example, for availing a term insurance plan from ICICI, a 35 years old resident individual has to pay Rs.12000 pa for an insurance coverage of Rs.25 lacs for 30 years, with permanent disability rider. (Product name : Pure protect-Elite)

Suppose, an NRI apply for the same product and his triglycerides are 1.8 (slightly high as against normal reading 1.7) and sugar level is 5.7 (slightly high against normal reading 5.5), he has to pay 40 % to 60% extra premium. That is, he has to pay Rs.18000 to Rs.19000 pa for availing the same product.

In my office, we are collecting the insurance details of all our employees as a part of our employee welfare scheme. It’s just for supporting them, in case of any mishap in future. We are having a database since 2008 and I can prove that all insurance companies irrespective of their brand profile charging NRIs with extra premium for their term insurance plans.

In the above case, no premium will be returned to the customer as there is no survival benefit is offered. But, if you apply for a product with the return of premium, please note that you will have to pay only Rs.5500 more per annum, and you will get back the entire premium after 30 years. (It’s very clear what insurance companies are aiming by charging extra premium).

In nutshell, an NRI should not accept any term plans with extra premium, instead, he should go for a term plan with return of premium. Expecting your research and review please.

I wanted to share my experience with Aegon. After a long analysis whether i should go for HDFC, Kotak etc…. I prefered to go for HDFC or Kotak. But i heared or read from blog, that 98% settlement from HDFC and 95% not sure with figure Kotak and Aegon in 80+. Then i went to each site and started to explore thing. There i found one intersting in Aegon Religar site, so far how many claims and how many they setteled etc,…. where its really nice to flourish details in their website. So, some where i’m impressed with this and submited my form. After submiting my form immiditately i got mail confirmation and then followed by phone confirmation. Next day they called and asked for medical test appointment. On appointment day morning doctor came and all my test were completed.

With in 2 days i got my Insurance Policy document. Its really nice followup and flow from Aegon Religar. Premium also less compare to other insurance comp, but this is not only the criteria, i went for. Let hope for the best, that Aegon will keep up the good work.

I’ve taken ICICI online policy for myself and for my wife .I found no problems in both the cases .I got the online policy with in 5 days of making payment.RM was present and made things easy. Good experience .

Hi, Off-line term plan is costly more than on-line term plan because of Insurer overheads expenses. Its not because of agent commission. Agent commission is a part of overheads expenses. One would like to have a term plan because of probability/ chances of premature death, it’s because term plan coverage would take care of financial loss of the deceased family member. It means because love and affection towards family one would like to take a term plan. Now, in case of a claim if its early claim Insurer will do extensive investigation on the claim, means getting an early claim is not at all easy. Even if in case non-early claim, Insurer is not going to pay claim amount without any investigation, they will do all the investigation up to their satisfaction. Now, if somebody will take off-line insurance policy from a good advisor / financial planner advice, the claim will definitely take care by the concern agent. Filling-up a proposal form is not an easy task, it is important in an insurance proposal; it’s very….vital In case of term plan. Now, question is who are a good agent / advisor. It’s just like you differentiate a normal doctor and a good doctor. Good agent is agent to whom you can trust and relay upon for a long term. My point is that, for chances or to care your family/ nominee you would like to have a term plan, when you buy are a term plan via on-line then chances of rejection/delay is more than off-line term plan or plan through a advisor. One need to think twice what happens if claim will get reject or delay, where family member/ spouse is running here and there, ombudsmen, consumer court, lawyer ….. It does not mean on-line term plan is bad or you can’t get claim. My point is the for peace of mind I would like to go for a off-line term plan from a good, qualified, trust-worthy advisor @ Rs. 10,000/- rather than from online @ Rs. 6,000/-. Taking a term for me is peace of mind, commitment towards my family, not to take any chance or reduce chance of claim difficulties, if it happens. By saving Rs. 4,000 in a year I am not going to build a house. Insurance regulatory should ask every Insurer to publish their claim details on-line and off-line separately then it would be easier for the customer to take a decision. What I mentioned is my opinion Suren Patnaik

PS. do remember that in any insurance contract the settlement of claim very much relies on the information you provide to the company. Even if you are doing it through agent, its always wise to do it yourself and be aware of what you did. In online term plan the assistance is always there from the company when you are applying for the policy or claiming for it. But it will not be right to assume that chances of rejection or claim is higher in online as it depends on many factors.

One may be convenient with offline term plans but surely the reason is peace of mind or need of services of an agent.

Absolute agreement with your view. Again my point is by pointing agent commission we can’t say one should go for on-line term plan. We need to see practical aspects of a insurance product. Again, I would like to see any data of claim on off-line and on-line term plan, if you have pls provide to me.

Need your advise on buying Term policy for NRIs. I am 43 years old and work for a MNC IT company. As part of my job I travel abroad and some times stay for long periods. Kindly advise me which companies offer such and with your recommendation/suggestion for those. From my side I had shortlisted HDFC Life-Click2Protect, Aviva, Bharti AXA, IndiaFirst, Aegon Religare,.. Please advise ASAP.

need your advice on buying 2nd term insurance . having existing one with aviva (i life) sum assured of 25lacks . looking another one for 25lacks (most probably icici ). i am confused between online or offline one becoz offline costing me 66% more . though i am having good experience with aviva till date , is it safe to go again for online term plan or better to stay with offline this time .

If we analyse the claim settlement ratios of private insurance companies, we can see a significant increase in last few years. But when we consider the CSR of term assurance plans alone, we will be shocked because the percentage is decreasing for most of these companies since 2010 onwards.!.

As a matter of general awareness, I would like to clarify few points as regard with the claim settlement of term assurance plans in following scenarios:-

(1) Suppose, a policy holder passes away due to heart attack which occurs first time in his entire life time, will the insurer pay the SA to the nominee.? Is it necessary to have a rider under Critical Illness to claim such a death in a term plan.?

(2) Second scenario, if the policy holder dies due to an infection such as infection in lungs due to Pneumonia, is it a valid claim eligible for payment under a term plan.? If not, why.?

Brief info about self: 29 / female / non-smoker/ unmarried / employed / 3 dependents. I intend to finalize term insurance for myself at the earliest. For months, I have done enough research (IRDA reports, CSR and other ratios, reputation & softer aspects of customer friendliness, ethical corporate governance and stability of operations, etc) on the same. I have come to the final conclusion as below:

Sum to be covered: 3 Crore (10X yearly income) – broken into 3 policies of 2 online ICICI i-care & HDFC click 2 protect and 1 offline LIC Jeevan Amulya – hedging risk of online vs offline, LIC vs. private and splitting in 3 to ensure even in a remote case of claim rejection by a co, there are fall-back options for immediate relief to family as well as precedent to present to IRDA for the company rejecting claim. Plus this will help me to take ADB in ICICI & LIC as HDFC online doesn’t offer it. I wish to insist for medical tests in all policies and wish to retain a copy of all the tests done at the pathology for my own records as well.

My queries are: 1. Do you think this is a good approach? Am I missing something? Please critique. 2. There has been enough and more debate about online policy purchase. I am tech-savvy and believe in online channel of sales and also realise I may face some issues in follow-up for getting the policy issued. My concern is in case any of the fine line T&C differs in the policy contract issued in case of online vs. offline. As long as I am truthful in my details and medical tests are taken, I hope there is no step-treatment to online policy buyers at the time of claim settlement? 3. I have noticed (IRDA report data) that although LIC has higher CSR, the average policy size is also low. Not to mention that LIC product mix is tilted towards pension & ULIP plans rather than pure risk cover term plans. And hence, it might be easier for LIC to process claims fast (average policy size is 2-5 lacs). For reputed private insurers like ICICI, HDFC, Bajaj Allianz, etc, average policy sizes are higher and so is the claim processing time (slightly). Similarly, the time taken to process claims is quite higher in relatively new entrants, possibly because most online policies bought are for much higher risk cover owing to low premiums increasing affordability as well as the affordability levels of the SEC which has taken the plunge to insure online. Plus having to service claims within 5 years of having taken the policy must come with additional scrutiny. I hope that may explain some of the reasons why newer entrants have low CSR. I hope I am correct to think that way. Although despite very low premiums, I still do not want to go with Aegon Religare, Aviva, etc kind of companies (risk averse mentality to some extent). What is your thought on this? 4. Any suggestion for break-up of 3 crores between the 3 policies I mentioned?

I would appreciate your help very much and it being such a sensitive matter, you would be doing me a big favour! Thanks in advance!

I have been a regular follower of your blogs, specially on insurance, as I was planning to buy the same. In past year, I have purchased separate accident policy for 30 L with disability cover – premium approx. 3500/-. Since past 4years, already had a family floater Mediclaim policy for 8 L – Oriental (includes my mother also). The only part pending was Term plan, which after a lot of research on CSR & Brand value, I opted for HDFC CTP (for 75 L – 20 Y period, paid a premium of 18000/-, I am 42Y male, non-tobacco user, occasional alcoholic). I applied on 7th Aug,13 post which I recd. a call that their RM / Employee would contact me for the same. With his help, I filled up the form on 12.08.13. I am undergoing treatment for slightly higher cholesterol, which I have mentioned in the form. Have also given past 2 years medical reports along with dr’s prescriptions to him. In past medical history, I have mentioned that I had some small stone problem in kidney around 16-17 years back, which was fully cured then. After one week, I recd. information to get medicals done at a centre near my home. I undertook the tests. Payment was made by them (2900/-) as I was advised. The reports were directly sent to HDFC. After one week, I recd. another letter to undergo additional medical tests (Ultrasound & some Urine tests) at MY COST. I spoke to the RM, who told that company bears only the cost of standard tests (which was approx. 2900/-), but any additional tests required based on individual’s medical condition would have to be borne by you at your cost. I paid another 2300/- for the tests. In ultrasound, I was detected with small stone in left kidney (which came as surprise, as I was fully cured earlier). I requested them to share the reports with me so that I can get myself checked up with my doctor. They said that the reports wont be shared until policy is allotted to you. Today, I have recd. another mail from them asking to submit the documents of past treatment (which were already given to their RM, who I think has not yet submitted the same). They are also asking for the test reports of 2nd round of medical, which the test lab is supposed to send directly to them. 3rd requirement is they have given a questionnaire for the attending doctor to fill & sign. The form asks for current condition of the patient. No doctor can advice the same till he sees the latest test reports of a patient. I am confused. If I go to doctor to get the form filled up, he will ask for test reports which are with HDFC. For getting the doctor’s comments on the form, I might need to spend another 2500/- to undertake the fresh tests. Even after doing so, I am not sure by how much the premium would be inflated ? There seems to be no coordination between the sales RM / operations team, as the RM says he has submitted the documents already, but they are again asking for the same. Hemant, pls. advice, at this stage if I plan to withdraw, is it advisable ? If after refund of premium, I opt for any other company’s term plan, they ask whether you have earlier applied for any other company’s plan / denied cover etc., should one clearly state the facts in other company (as I want to withdraw purely because of confusion & harrassment by HDFC I am feeling & maybe I may not be able to afford the increase in premium they may ask for.) Need advice from you. Will update the further progress on my case.

this probably my first comment on this magnificent learning platform…. after spending two months on this blog i was able to take worthy financial decisions….. i stopped my lic new bima gold policy which i had started in 2007. i stopped my postal life insurance policy which i took in 2009.. i stopped bharati axa bright star plan which i bought in 2009. premium to risk cover ratio of all these policies is not worth mentioning. then i bought an online term plan…. that is aegon religare iterm plan…. what a comfort of sitting in the chair at home and buying a term plan worth 60 lacs with an annual premium of 5500 rs only!!!!!! i am totally happy with the service of the company and the product. HEMANT…… I THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART. YOU ARE SHARING YOUR KNOWLEDGE FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE MANKIND….. THIS IS TRUE FORM OF ALTRUISM…. THIS BLOG HAS CHANGED MY FINANCIAL LIFE……. THANKS AGAIN….

The worst service provided by hdfc life. I had applied for click to protect in nov 2014. Medical done. Documents submitted thrice by mail once by courier. But till now no response for issue of policy. Pls advice what to do. Customer care saying we will contact u in 24 hrs but not contacting. Dont buy hdfc